Bed having means for lifting helpless occupant



Oct. 15, 1957 CQLANER, 5 2,809,381

BED HAVING MEANS FOR LIFTING HELPLESS OCCUPANT Filed D80. 9, 1955 2Sheets-Sheet l I INVENTOR. lows. (64.44 5 52 I BY Oct. 15, 1957 I E 52,809,381

BED HAVING MEANS FOR LIFTING HELPLESS OCCUPANT Filed Dec. 9, 1955 2Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. lows Kazan 95k.

M 2% flrfdi/YE/ BED HAVING MEANS FOR LIFTING HELPLESS OCCUPANT LouisColaner, Sr., Freehold, N. 3.

Application December 9, 1955, Serial No. 552,073

1 Claim. (Cl. 87)

The invention herein disclosed relates to bed constructions and the mainobject of the invention is to incorporate in the bed structure apractical form of hoist for lifting and transporting a helpless occupantof the bed.

Special objects of the invention are to provide means for safely andcomfortably lifting, supporting and transfer-ring a patient from oneposition or place to another, as from the bed to a chair at the side ofthe bed and vice versa.

Other important objects are to combine the bed and hoist mechanism in away which will not be objectionable as to appearance and so that suchmechanism when not in use may be swung to an inconspicuous,out-of-theway position.

Also, it is a purpose of the invention to construct the bed so that aside may be quickly let down to clear the way for transferring a patientfrom bed to chair or back from the chair to the bed, and all thiswithout any danger of overturning the bed structure.

Other desirable objects attained by the invention, and the novelfeatures of construction, combinations and relations of parts throughwhich the purposes of the invention are accomplished are further setforth and will appear in the course of the following specification.

The drawings accompanying and forming part of the specificationillustrate a present commercial embodiment of the invention. Structure,however, may be modified and changed as regards the immediateillustration, all within the true intent and scope of the invention ashereinafter defined and claimed.

Fig. l in the drawings is a broken perspective view of the bed showingthe crane in a patient-lifting position over the center of the bed;

Fig. 2 is a broken cross-sectional view as on substantially the plane ofline 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a horizontal sectional view on substantially the plane of line33 of Fig. 2.

The frame of the bed is of special construction having tubular cornerposts 5 and 6 of sufficient strength and proper height to carry theswinging crane structure.

V-fnile only two such posts have been shown, at the head of the bed, itwill be understood that these crane supporting corner posts may beprovided at all four corners or possibly just at the foot of the bed, orat just three corners or possibly at just a single corner, depending onservices to which the beds are to be put.

Another distinguishing feature of the bed frame is that the base of thebed is extended laterally to overcome any tipping tendencies andpositively prevent any overturning possibility in the aforesaid swingingmovement of the loaded crane.

Specifically in the illustration the two head posts 5, 6 are shown asmounted on a supporting cross bar 7 extended laterally at opposite sidesat 8, 9, beyond the posts and sufficiently beyond the sides of the bedto positively overcome any overturning tendency from any outwardlyswinging movement of the loaded crane. These ice side extensions of thesupporting base are shown as castered at 10 and as carrying rollers orcasters 11 at the back to operate as guards engageable with a baseboard12 to prevent digging or jamming into a wall surface in the moving ofthe bed from one position to another.

This same outrigger or extended base construction may be provided at theopposite end of the bed if the bed is constructed for use of liftingcranes at that end of the bed.

The crane is shown as made up of a tubular mast or post 13 having a rod14 secured in the lower portion of the same and extended for pivotalengagement in the bed post, as shown in Fig. 2, and a projecting arm orboom 15 pivoted to the head of the mast at 16 and a power jack 17pivoted to the foot of the mast at 18 and pivoted to the top to thernidpo-rtion of the boom at 19.

The jack 17 may be of conventional design and be of the screw type,hydraulic, pneumatic or electric.

In the illustration a hydraulic jack is indicated, operable by aremovable hand lever 29, Fig. l, which can be applied over the stock 21of the pump lever 22, this jack being of the automatic holding type andcontrolled by a valve 23 for lowering purposes.

The lower or supporting pivot 18 for the jack is shown as carried bysleeve 24 which may be adjustably clamped over the lower end portion ofthe crane post 13, and the upper pivot 19 is shown carried by a sleeve25 which may be adjustably secured lengthwise on the boom 15 thus toprovide ability for varying the throw and lift of the boom.

The support for the patient may vary in character.

A simple form of sling is illustrated at 26 suspended by chains 27 froma bar 28 flexibly suspended from the end of the boom. It will beappreciated that this supporting structure may vary quite widely,depending on the condition of the patient, handling requirements andother factors.

A further feature of the bed illustrated is that it is provided withdrop sides 30, 31 which can be lowered to enable a patient to be swungout over the edge of the bed without obstruction.

These sides are shown as having upper and lower parallel rods 32, 33arranged for the upper rods to drop into open top books 34 and the lowerrods to ride in vertically slotted brackets 35 on the sides of the bedposts.

Fig. 2 shows how these side members will normally be securely held bythe upper books 34 and lower slotted brackets 35, the broken lines atthe right showing how when a side is lifted to clear the top rail ofhooks 34, it may then be swung outward on the lower rail as a pivot anddrop down out of the way below the mattress level.

When the crane is not in use it may be swung back out of the way againsta wall at the head of the bed or it may be removed from the rest of thebed structure by simply lifting it up out of the supporting corner post.The tops of these hollow bed posts, when such posts are not in service,may be closed by suitable, easily removable, ornamental caps or covers36.

Instead of a single lifting crane mounted usually at the head of thebed, two or more cranes may be slipped into position in the hollowcorner posts and also possibly be used at the foot of the bed forraising or supporting the lower limbs.

While hydraulic jacks, because of their self-contained unitaryconstruction, may be preferred it is contemplated that other forms ofpower jacks may be used and be either hand operated or motor driven. Inthe case of a motor driven unit it may be controlled by push-buttons orthe like within reach of the individual on the bed, or be controlled bya nurse or other attendant. In any r 3 event, the invention provides forthe safe and comfortable handling of an invalid or otherwise helplessindividual by one person and the safe carrying of. an individual fromthe bed to a position off at the side of the bed and from there backinto supported relation 'on the bed.

The invention is of particular value in temporarily lifting andsupporting a patient while changing sheets and the like. The drop sidesare a great convenience, providing safety for the patient in repose and,when lowered, enabling clear movement of patient to and from thebedside.

The combination bed with lifting crane incorporated is of simple, ruggedconstruction, consisting of few, simple parts and one which can beproduced at relatively low cost. The supporting means for the occupantmay be in the form of a sling, hammock, stretcher or other such devicesuited to lifting a patient either bodily or partially, as circumstancesrequire. 7

The flexible suspension preferably includes a swivel, as indicated at37, so that the patient may be readily swung around to dilferentpositions.

The head post is braced, in the illustration, by a strut 38 extendingfrom the cross-bar 7 at the foot of the head post to the frame bear 39near the foot of the bed. This strengthens the post against any tendencyto tilt or yield under a heavy load.

What is claimed is:

An invalid bed having a built-in but removable power crane for liftingthe occupant of the bed and compris ing a bed frame having spaced hollowcorner posts open at the upper ends and an elongated horizontal crossbar on which the lower ends of said corner posts are supported andextended laterally beyond said corner posts and provided at theoutwardly extended ends with floor engaging casters for supporting saidcorner posts against tipping or overturning forces, said bed framehaving guards at the sides of the same for protection of an occupant onthe bed, the power crane unit removably and 4 rotatably associated withsaid bed frameand comprising a mast removably and rotatably seated inthe open upper end of one of said corner posts, a boom pivotallyconnected at one end with the upper end of said mast, occupantsupporting means suspended from the other end of said boom and a powerjack interposed in inclined relation between said mast and boom,pivotally connected at its lower'end with the mast at a point adjoiningthe upper end of the bed post and pivotally connected at its upper endwith an intermediate portion of the boom and means releasably supportingsaid guards in elevated protective position at the sides of the bed andwhereby upon use of the crane for lifting, lowering or shifting theoccupant over onto or away from the bed, said'guards may be lowered toclear the wayfor the free movement of the occupant supported by thecrane.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS462,458 Taylor Nov. 3, 1891 824,846 Clement July 3, 1906 953,962 LaneApr. 5, 1910 1,135,022 Hummel Apr. 13, 1915 1,280,792 MacEachern Oct. 8,1918 1,878,785 Leavitt Sept. 20, 1932 2,035,116 Elmick Mar. 24, 19362,466,289 Welch Apr. 5, 1949 2,666,212 Flanders Ian. 19, 1954 2,747,652Marsh May 29, 1956 FOREIGN PATENTS 8,678 Great Britain of 1901 301,958Great Britain Dec. 10, 1928 OTHER REFERENCES Casket & Sunnyside, articleby Stratton Equipment Co.,

pages 6 and 7, Aug. 11, 1950.

